Writing-tablet



UNITED S TES PATENT -OFFIGE.

ABEL BEACH, OF IOWA CITY, IOWA.

WRITING- TABLET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,980, dated February 3, 1880.

Application filed December 2, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABEL BEACH, of Iowa City, in the county of Johnson and State of Iowa, 'have invented a new and useful Writ ing Tablet or Board to facilitate the labor of writing and improve the quality, particularly While copying and writing lengthy documents. of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to the holding and moving of the paper which is written upon up and down the tablet in lines at all times parallel by means of a clip on the side of the tablet playing in a groove or along a beaded edge, or by means of a wire or other equivalent which will allow the paper to be readily moved and adjusted to any desired position along the line of motion, thus serving as asoonvenient table for writing and retaining papers in place.

In the ordinary method of writing, when the paper which is written upon, and which lies loosely on the desk or table, is moved along as the work progresses, it is naturally shifted to diiferent positions as compared with a rectiwalnut, cherry, &c.-or of pasteboard, hard rubber, or other suitable material, and of any desired size.

When made of wood one-half inch or threesixteenths inch in thickness will be found desirable, and may be kept from warping by crosspieces at the ends with ton gue and groove, attached by gluing.

When the bead or wire pattern is used in connection with the clip it can be so used separate and apart from the tablet, the bead or wire being made to fasten to any desk or table, (along the edge or on the top.) and only the slideclip in addition required to secure the practical operation of the invention.

and paper written upon are moved back and forth at pleasure.

The slide-clip which carries the paper may be constructed of wood for both base and clasp with metal springs, or it may have one of these of wood and the other of metal or hard rubber, or the whole may be of metal and in one or more parts.

A convenient form of making the groove is to have the bottom thereof wider than the top, which can readily be cut by appropriate machinery, the base of the slide-clip being made to fit it in size and shape, so as to have the top of said base come even in the same plane with the upper surface of the tablet.

When the head or wire pattern are to be used separate and apart from the tablet, and in connection with any desk or table, they can be so connected by means of screws or other fastenings. The base' of the slide-clip with these must be made to fit about such bead or wire with freedom of motion along the line.

The end pieces of the clip, in which it has its pivotal motion, as shown in the drawings, 0

should be attached to the base about three siXteenths of an inch from the front edge, and equidistant therefrom, to serve as a gage for thereception of the paper to a proper depth in the. clip.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similarletters of reference represent like parts, Figure 1 is a perspective of the tablet complete. Fig. 2 is an enlarged View of the slideclip in front; and Figs. 3 and 4: are the same enlarged views of the slide-clip seen from the back side, showing two different constructions of the springs where short pieces of steel band are used-in Fig. 3, a single spring in the center, retained in position by shallow grooves above and below, and in Fig. 4 two springs, one attached at each end of the base or clasp of the clip by small screws and pressing against the opposite part in shallow grooves. Fig. 5 gives a perspective of a portion of the tablet, with the bead edge and the slide-clip (enlarged size also) fitted to it, and seen from the back side. Fig. 6 is an end view of a trans verse section of a modified form of the slideclip having a'metal base.

In these drawings, the following-named letters represent or indicate the different parts of the tablet, as stated below, viz: A is the tablet or board. B is the slide-clip. G is the groove on the left side of the tablet, in which the slide clip moves, and the lower end of whichis closed. D is the spring catch or clasp, which holds the paper by clasping down on the base of the slide-clip, and by which it is readily moved. E is the base of the slide- .clip, fitted to play easily in the groove 0 or along the bead K, or along the wire when used. FFarethe end pieces of the clip, which are attached to the base and hold the clasp D.

G G are the steel springs to the clasp or catch of the clip. H is a shallow groove out in the base of the slide-clip to receive and retain in position the loose spring of Fig. 3, a similar groove being cut in the catch above, (under side,) where the spring is made to play. I I

are the blotter-holders on the right edge of the tablet, made loose, as here shown, so as to be adjustable to any desired position, and used or dispensed with at pleasure, the blotter bein g represented by dotted lines on the board; and K is to represent the bead edge of the tablet when substituted for the groove.

The practical use of the tablet is obvious. The paper to be Written upon is placed in the clip under the spring-catch, and is thereby moved backward and forward in parallel lines without delay or inconvenience as the work progresses. The separate clip, with bead or wire, can be used in connection with any desk or table.

What I claim is 1. The combination of the base A, provided with the groove 0, or its described equivalent, with the sliding springclip D.

2. As a new article of manufacture,the hereiirdescribed writing-tablet, consisting of base A, having the groove 0 and the sliding base E and pivoted clamp D, with spring or springs G, and the blotter-clamps l I, substantially as described.

ABEL BEACH. Witnesses:

J. D. MOILVVAIN, R. H. TIMMONDS. 

